First time for everything”- Caitlin Clark gets candid on spending night in Casino ahead of WNBA debut

Caitlin Clark's highly anticipated WNBA debut didn’t quite unfold as planned. It was a pretty underwhelming outing for the 6 ft guard and the Fever, as they fell to a 92-71 defeat against Connecticut Sun in their opening game of the WNBA season.

Entering the court for the first time in the white of Fever, Clark's arrival and first bucket were greeted with enthusiastic cheers from 13,000 fans. However, despite scoring a game-high 20 points, Clark was unable to take center stage on that occasion, as she also set a record for the most turnovers in a WNBA debut with 10.

During the post-match interview, the Fever’s rookie dropped an honest yet startling admission of spending the night in a casino before her debut at the Mohegan Sun casino, located right next to the arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“I’ve never stayed in a casino the night before a game, so I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Clark said as per Hartford Courant’s Emily Adams

This unexpected revelation paints a picture of a young athlete adjusting to playing basketball at the professional level. Connecticut, of course, is a well-known casino hub, with Mohegan Sun being one of the largest resort casinos in the entire country.

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Despite rocky debut, Caitlin Clark joins WNBA elite scorers list

Despite being on the losing end, Caitlin Clark’s debut in Connecticut was record-breaking in itself. Even though her debut was not flawless, there was something that had set the NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader apart from the rest. Thus, setting aside a majority of the players, Clark joins Maya Moore and Edna Campbell as the only players in WNBA history to tally 20+ points and 4+ three-pointers in their debut.

Another interesting commonality is that both these players have been champions- barring the Fever rookie, who has a fighting chance to tick that box off as well in the future.

Talking about her debut performance, Caitlin Clark remained candidly aloof.

"There's a lot to learn from; it's the first one," Caitlin Clark said to reporters after the game. "There's going to be good ones, there's going to be bad ones."

Clark also acknowledged her struggles, particularly the turnovers.

"There’s a lot of things to learn from. Yeah I would’ve enjoyed to play better. I didn’t feel much pressure coming into this game,” she added.

The Fever return home on Thursday for Clark's highly anticipated home debut, where they'll face a stiff test against the New York Liberty, a team that battled all the way to the WNBA Finals last season.